Foot-support.



G. A. VROOMAN.

Foo SUPPORT. APPLICATION FILED lUNE14 1915.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917'.

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GEORGE A. VRUOMAN, OF IRVINGTON, .NEW YORK.

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scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use/ the same.

This invention relates to new. and useful improvements in inner soles for shoes andis particularly directed to the provision of Aan inner sole for resiliently supporting the foot a brace for the arch` of the foot.

It is. primarily an objectv of the invention to provide an inner sole for shoes whereby upon walking, a current `of air will be creu ated in the shoe upon each step taken by the wearer, to avoid an excess of perspiration whereby the feet may be kept in a healthy condition, it being more specifically an object to provideA such an inner sole which serves alsov to give a resilient action which takes up the shock 'and promotes ease in walking and which may serve further asa support for the arch of the foot,

It is further an object to provide such a device which may be made of metal so as to .prevent dampness from permeating to the foot of the wearer and further so as to con- -duce toa simple structure which may be cheap to manufacture.

With these above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides more particularly in the novel combination, formation and arrangement of parts as more fully described hereinafter and pontedout in the appended claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding l parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved inner sole.

. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the inner sole.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Referring now particularly to 4the accompanying drawings, the body portion of the inner sole comprises a plate 5 shaped in plan roer-sorrows.

Specification of Letters Patent. Ptemtd Hgh, 139 1191*?, Application led June 14, 19175. f Serial No. 33,944. l

-to conform to the shape of the 'wearers foot,

and provided with depressions 6 and 7, respectively seating lthe ball and heel portions of the foot. @ne side of the instep portion of the plate is bent upwardly at 8 to support the arch of the foot, and in the caseVof persons having vweak arches this intermediate portion of the plate may be bent as desired to properly support the same. To promote a free circulation ofair the plate is provided along its side with-a series of perforations 9 l and the top l,face of the plate is provided with ia facing '10 of leather, similarly perlfo'rated, and secured by bending lits side edges varound the edges of the'plate and securing them' as by gluing.

A leaf spring 11`is disposed longitudinally on the bottom face of the plate and isintermediately secured by a rivet member 12' passing therethroughiand through the adjacent instep portion of theplate. This spring is bowed on each side of its securing point and these bowed portions thus lie under the ball and heel portions of the plate, with their free ends slidably bearing against the plate. i

Auxiliary spring means for .bracingthe spring 11 comprises a spring section 13 intermediately secured on the-bottom of the ball portion of the plate and having its ends bowed outwardly to slidably bear against the spring 11, andasimilar spring section 14 which is secured on the rivet 12 between the spring l1 and the plate and has its ends outwardly bowed to also slidably bear against the mainspring.

Thus, when this inner sole is positioned in a shoe the spring 11 normally urges it away from the bottom of the shoe, and upon .the wearer taking a step the "spring gives to l 'seat the inner sole on the bottom of the shoe `the shoe being lifted from the ground the sole assumes its iirst mentionedrposition.

In addition to providing for this circuy lation of air through the shoe, the inner sole provides a spring tread which materially promotes ease in walking. As the sprmg .1s secured at the instep portion of the sole, said instep portion is thus resiliently supported t should it be desired to form the body plate somewhat flexible at this portion so that a proper resilient support may be a'orded the arches of the foot.

An exceeding simple structure has thus been provided which will efficiently perform the functions set forth.

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention, I

have merely done so for the sake of convenience and I do not wish to be limited to that particular embodiment as it is Obvious that numerous changes may be made within the details of construction thereof without in any way departing from the spirit 0f the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is 1.r In a device of the kind described, a plate shaped to conform to the wearers foot and having a depression adjacent each end to provide ball and heel seats, the portion of the plate intermediate said depressions be` ing formed to constitute an arch support, a leaf spring disposed longitudinally beneath the plate and having its central portion riveted to the arch supporting portion of the plate, said spring having its extremities resting against the plate adjacent the eX- tremities of the latter and being provided with portions beneath the ball and heel seats bowed away from said seats, a spring section secured on the bottom of the ball portion of the plate and having its ends bowed downwardly to bear against the spring, and a second Ispring section fixed between the plate and spring at the riveted portions thereof and having its ends bowed downwardly to engage the spring beneath the ball and heel portions of the plate respectively.

2. In a device of the kind described, a plate shaped to conform tothe wearers foot and having a depression adjacent each end to provide ball and heel seats, the portion of the plate intermediate said depressions being formed to constitute an arch support, a leaf spring disposed longitudinally ybeneath the plate vand having ts- Central portion riveted to the arch supporting portion of the plate, said spring having its extremities resting against the plate adjacent the eX- tremities of the latter and being provided with portions beneath the ball and heel seats bowed away from `said seats, and spring means between the plate and first spring secured to the plate beneath the ball and arch supporting portions and bearing against the first spring. f f

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my ture, inthe presenceof two witnesses.

' GEORGE A. VROOMAN.

Vitnesses:

'f WILLIAM MARSHALL, JENNIE BUoKHoUT.

signa- 

